Valkyria Chronicles General

Ooh, I just realised they have the "Old Storybook" effect from the first game now. Nice.

New VC4 details

There's a new gameplay feature called the Brave system where characters on the verge of death can take one final action and either "Rise Up" and counterattack during the enemy's turn with one AP gauge used up to give them invincibility for a fixed time or "Entrust", helping the nearest ally and recovering one CP.

So they've gone back to VC 1's perma-death system.

I have to say, I sort of approve. Fire Emblem shows that it has some sort of weight to it, whether it's because you'll reset whenever you lose someone, or because it makes a very epic and memorable playthrough if you don't.

I just hope there is some limit to the brave system, if each of my units can just get invincible whenever I overextend them it will suffer the tactical thinking.

Well, for a start, they would always penalise you for a unit going down both by a score reduction, and by the fact they have to be retreated in order to deploy someone who can actually fight. It sounds like there's a very hard limit on how often you can use Brave. Either once per unit or once per battle.

It also sounds like Engineers get the Medic level ragnaid from the start. Kind of OP.

I hope they at least flattened AP levels a little compared to the first game (but not as much as 2), as the extreme AP of scouts made them too good and useful to the exclusion of shocktroopers (especially if you have a good royal or captured rifle or are on NG+) and the extremely low AP of lancers made them hard to actually use for their main job.

Side note, I dig how Federation lances actually have a stock.

More VC4 gameplay and character details

The new advanced version of classes is "Jaeger" which is unlocked at level 11 for every class, granting certain classes new weapons. In addition, Sniper Jaegers will have the ability to counterattack.

Also the Squad E mascot is a medical dog and is adorable

edited 24th Dec '17 11:26:57 PM by Nouct

Depending on whether Jaegr Snipers are gaining interception fire, or just fight back from enemy attacks, that could be incredibly broken.

Does anyone have a good use for mortar lances? I never found a real use for them, since rifle grenades offer most of the same utility on a much more mobile unit that doesn't lose its normal functionality in the process.

And without major changes, I get the impression that I won't have an easier time finding a use for them in VC4, as grenadiers will likely offer an even more potent option, and even if their mobility is poor (and it's not like lancers have good movement), they offer long range to make up for it, and rifle grenades aren't going anywhere.

edited 25th Dec '17 11:41:28 PM by Balmung

If we're talking VC 2, then mortar lances are good for clearing camps. Rifle grenades do not have the same radius or launch power that mortars do.

In VC 1... I've seen someone argue how they're good, but I'd call them extremely situational. Maybe once or twice you'll get some use out of the low launch arc, but I'd say at most equip only a single lancer with it.

Gameplay videos.

Well that answers how Grenadiers will differ from Scouts and Mortar lances: They are capable of interception-fire from the get-go and take heavly reduced damage from the front.

Someone already listed all Squaddies revealed so far. Pretty much Hotter and Sexier especially on the women's part but at least some POC this time.

So they're sort of like armoured techs without the mine disabling, then.

Kind of an issue. The advantage of the armour tech was that they could disable a field of mines under fire, which is something engineers couldn't do. This change means a Gatling bunker covered by a mixed minefield is essentially impenetrable.

Not really. Lead with your tank and eat the mines, then fix it with an engineer, or blast the bunker from across the minefield with your tank, then clear it. It may also be possible to use grenadiers to shell the bunker into rubble. Also, in cases like that, the game often gives you a flanking route.

That works in VC 1 where Tanks had a healthbar for treads and a metric ton of health. But in VC 2, mine damage is quite capable of one-shotting a light tank, and there's a lot of terrain they can't travel to. There were also those escort APC missions.

I guess I should wait till I've seen what levels we have before I judge the removal of Techs.

Yeah, but VC 4 seems more like 1 than 2 and the Hafen looks a good deal beefier than Gallian light tanks, and in 2, my solution was always use the perfect captured turret and snipe such bunkers without crossing the mines, which I often clear by running a lancer over them instead of bothering to deploy armor techs.

Couldn't lancers tank mines?

Depended on the game, level of the lancer and their armour.

I recall that you had to get to relatively high level equipment before they could safely run over mines, because the explosions count as a damage from behind, where their defence is weakest.

edited 27th Dec '17 4:50:42 PM by Ekimmak

I don't recall any point where mines are significantly damaging to lancers. It's not really their defense, but their explosion resistance (which also applies to flamethrowers and normal lances) that makes them able to shrug off mines.

So one of the Shocktroopers is wearing a Knight helmet , can't wait to see the story behind that.

Also, the TV Tropes page for Valkyria Chronicles 4 has been made.

I just remember a lancer setting off a mine, and being surprised at how much damage they took.

Trailer for the VC4 DLC featuring the VC1 characters, the deal in Japan is first print copies have the “Preemptive Special Tactics” DLC mission which lets you recruit Edy and the 10th anniversary limited edition comes with the “Joint Operation with Squad 7” DLC mission which lets you recruit the Edelweiss operated by Welkin, as well as Alicia, Largo, and Rosie, and Isara.

But who'd want to recruit Edy?

Lynn is the character I'd want to see in my army. All the Hard Workers.

I really liked Catherine for some reason, despite being like the worst sniper.

I also liked using Alicia all the time just to stick it to the game telling me that we should rely on The Power of Friendship rather than exploiting her Valkyria powers.

I just want this game to have a good story. VC crapped itself inside out in the second act.